1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of coating molded plastics articles and to articles obtainable by this method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Molded plastics articles, especially hollow articles such as bottles, canisters or tanks, frequently exhibit considerable permeation, especially to small organic molecules. To reduce this permeation it is possible to modify the surface of such hollow articles, especially plastic fuel tanks (PFTs) and fuel oil tanks, in a variety of ways. A widespread example is the fluorination or sulfonation of the container surface (Forming barrier layers in hollow plastics articles, in: Plastverarbeiter 37 (6), VDI-Verlag 1986). Modifications of this kind lead to a substantially reduced permeation to, for example, the methanol which is often present in fuels. For industrial use, however, this permeation barrier must possess long-term stability and must withstand mechanical loads over long periods of time. It is in this respect, however, that the methods known to date for the surface treatment of such molded plastics articles leave much to be desired.